Two in Singles, Two Doubles Pairs from Men's Tennis Advance to Sunday at Middlebury Invitational

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Sophomore Ben Biswas and freshman Armaan Kalra of the Tufts University men's tennis team advanced to the semi-final round in their flights on Saturday as the Jumbos opened their 2017-18 season at the Middlebury Invitational. Tufts' doubles pairs of sophomore Ethan Bershtein and Biswas as well as freshmen Boris Sorkin and Carl-Herman Grant also reached the semi-finals to be played on Sunday.

Kalra debuted for Tufts in impressive fashion, winning twice in the D singles flight on Saturday. He defeated Brandeis' Ethan Saal in the round of 16, 6-3 and 6-3. He then worked extra in the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 6-2, 10-5 victory against #4 seed Peter Martin from Middlebury. In Sunday's 1 p.m. semi-final, Kalra will be up against D #1 seed Brian Niguidula from RPI.

The singles finals in all four flights are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Sunday.

A pair of Tufts teams are still alive in the B doubles flight. Bershtein and Biswas knocked off Middlebury's Aleksandr Samets and Weston Brach in the round of 16 8-3. The Jumbo duo advanced to the semis with an 8-4 victory over RPI's Sundar Devakottai and Winston Yu. The Tufts tandem will play Middlebury's Andre Xiao and Adam Guo in the B doubles semi-finals tomorrow at 9 a.m.

Tufts' pairs will be attempting to face each other in the B doubles final. Sorkin and Grant reached the semis by defeating Brandeis' Zach Cihlar and Saal first 8-4 and then following up with an 8-4 victory against a mixed pair featuring their own teammate Danny Coran who played with Middlebury's Thorne Gregory (8-4). Sorkin and Grant face the host Panthers' Nate Eazor and Alex Vanezis in the semis on Sunday at 9 a.m. The final is scheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m.